


Long Hair Hottie

by MoonlightShines (Thatkillervibe)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Goth Caitlin Snow, In which Iris and Caitlin are friends, Matchmaking, Matchmaking Iris
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 07:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30051711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatkillervibe/pseuds/MoonlightShines
Summary: Midterm season at Central City University goes a little something like this for Iris and Barry: Clocking library hours, drinking excessive energy drinks and matchmaking single friends.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Cisco Ramon, Barry Allen/Iris West, Caitlin Snow & Iris West, Cisco Ramon & Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon/Caitlin Snow
Comments: 11
Kudos: 17





	Long Hair Hottie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard/gifts), [mosylu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mosylu/gifts).



> We back, baby! 
> 
> I had planned to gift this to @Avahasaclosetmurderboard for their birthday since like October oops but now it’s @Mosylu’s birthday too so I’m gonna say “hey happy belated birthday to both of you! Enjoy this 2 in 1 special”

"Long Hair Hottie. Six o'clock."   
  


Caitlin looked up from her book. 

Iris leaned in, scooting her chair closer to Caitlin's. "By the checkout desk," she murmured. "The one with the green jacket."   
  


Her eyes spotted him right away.  _ "Oh, _ " she breathed.   
  


A flush came to her cheeks. Iris’ codename was  _ very  _ accurate. 

Iris smirked at her reaction. "Told you so." 

Caitlin side-eyed her friend. 

Iris pursed her lips. "I still have eyes.” 

Caitlin raised an eyebrow. She distinctly remembered Iris proclaiming  _ “I only have eyes for Barry Henry Allen!”  _ once at a house party. She wasn’t even drunk. 

"Really?” 

Iris huffed. "I was pointing him out for  _ you, _ " she muttered under her breath.

Caitlin laughed and turned to admire Long Hair Hottie from afar. He had only about a dozen and a half books or so, piled up to his chin as he walked around, trying to find an empty seat. Caitlin cringed. There was none. Midterm season. 

Iris suddenly collected her purse and laptop. "I'm going back to my place," she sang in a voice that meant she was really on her way to find her boyfriend at the computer lab downstairs.

"What?!" Caitlin squeaked as Iris cleared the table, realizing what she was doing.   
  


Caitlin went straight to her hair, flattening it down over her leather jacket as he made a beeline to the empty spot. Iris looped two fingers into the hook of her backpack, mouthing at Caitlin  _ good luck.  _ Caitlin watched forlornly as Iris turned on her heel and walked out of the group study hall. That girl was so crafty sometimes. 

Long Hair Hottie dropped his books beside her. He grinned sheepishly, a smile that makes Caitlin’s heart race. She drops her gaze to her lap from pure embarrassment as he speaks. "I am so sorry for swooping in like a vulture. I feel like I stole your friend’s spot.”   
  


He looked back at the glass doors where Iris left with a grimace. “You're free to kick me out if she’s only on a coffee run or something. I just need to figure out how I'm carrying all of these."   
  


Caitlin bit her lip. Long Hair Hottie brushed his attractive hair out of his face, thinking hard about his conundrum. 

“It’s okay, she went to visit her boyfriend downstairs.” Caitlin reached into her backpack, fishing out her reusable library bag. "You can use this."   
  


Long Hair Hottie stammered at her offer, wide-eyed. "Oh my god. No! Keep your bag! That's so nice of you, though."   
  


She shook her head, pushing it forward. "There's no way you'll make it down the hill without dropping those books and it’s raining. They’ll fall into a puddle and damage. " 

He grimaced at that mental image, taking a seat. "Well..." 

"Take the bag," Caitlin said.   
  


"You sure?"   
  


"Positive." She slid it across the table and he took it gratefully.   


  
He started to stack them into the bag and Caitlin peeked over to stare at the titles. They were building manuals. Very techy.

"I'm Cisco, by the way.”

"Caitlin." She gestured at the books he had now stored away beside him. "Midterm?"   
  


He laughed in the type of way a student only did here if they've been living off Red Bull and Big Belly for consecutive days in a row. "Term project. My douchebag partner didn’t think my idea was good enough and split last minute.” 

  
Caitlin grimaced sympathetically. “Ouch. Engineering?” 

He nodded, pulling out his laptop. “I’ve noticed you around campus, you know.” 

“You have?”

“The silver hair is hard to miss. I’ve got to say, though. You don’t seem to match your aesthetic, even if you pull it off beautifully. You were very prim and bookish in Mr. Stein’s PHYS 205 last semester.” Cisco said it so casually, a pen between his teeth as he flipped through one of his borrowed textbooks, screen open on a 3D digital blueprint. 

Caitlin stared at him in quiet shock. 

His eyes slid over to hers in the silence, and he removed his pen. His eyes crinkled with concern. “I’m sorry, was that uncalled for? I’ve lost my filter somewhere 48 hours after my last sleep. I can go—“

“No!” Caitlin blurted out. Her black choker necklace suddenly felt so tight around her throat.   


  
She swallowed. “I—“ she blushed. “Thank you. And you’re right. I went through a goth phase in high school after my dad died. Dyed my hair, blue lipsticks, ripped jeans all that. Anything to outrage my mother.” 

Cisco laughed out loud at that. “Let me guess, you grew to like it.” 

Caitlin tapped her nails against the table, considering Long Hair Hottie. Cisco. She smiled at him, feeling bold. “It’s like you said. I wear it beautifully.”   
  


Cisco hummed in agreement. “Amen.”

Cisco stopped pressing keys on his laptop to look at her again about fifty minutes and four conversation breaks later. “I swear I’m an amazing multitasker but you’re very distracting and I’ve got to build this project by Tuesday.” He got up and gathered the new bag of library books under his arm with his backpack and laptop balancing in his other hand. 

“That’s okay,” Caitlin said. “I’ll be...here. Maybe indefinitely.” 

Cisco scrunched up his nose. “If I give you my number is that too forward of me?” 

Caitlin lit up. “I’d like that! Maybe text me after my lab exam tomorrow though.” She rummaged through her pencil case for her sharpie and printed her number out on a ripped off corner from her agenda. 

“Um,” Cisco said. His hands were full. Caitlin blushed and reached forward, stuffing it into his pocket. “Good luck on your term project!”

“Thanks, you too!” 

Caitlin waited exactly three minutes after Cisco left the library, back pushing against the door to let himself out before grabbing her phone to text Iris a big thank you.   
  
  


~.~

Cisco kicked the vending machine in the caf with a frustrated groan.   
  


"Heyyy man," said Barry. He peered at him as he scowled at the BBQ chips stuck against the glass.   


Cisco rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows and got on the floor, snaking his arm up the tiny flap. “C’mon….” he muttered. “Come to papa.” 

Barry watched as Cisco teetered over the edge of getting one of his own limbs stuck up in there with the snacks. “I thought you hated BBQ chips. You told me they taste like burnt paprika.” 

  
Cisco glared at him from the ground. “Don’t you have a midterm or something to be cramming for?”   
  


Barry knocked against the glass. The chips tilted at a new angle. “Yeah, but Iris wanted me to pick up some food so…” 

  
Cisco twisted his elbow to rearrange himself, stretching the tips of his fingers until they grazed against the air-filled plastic. Finally, the bag fell with a clunk. Cisco’s change went  _ clink clink clink  _ into the little coin dispenser. He grabbed the bag of chips and cradled them to his chest. “Yeah, this was Caitlin’s.” 

He got up and straightened himself up, pausing at Barry’s cheesy smile. “What.” 

Barry just kept on grinning.   
  


Cisco rolled his eyes, walking away. Barry followed him, hand gripping against his book bag. “You’re buying food for her now too?”

”Dude, she lives in the library. If it weren’t for our study dates I’d never see her.”

Barry kept on smirking. ”Food runs? Study dates? Are you two finally—“ 

Cisco turned on his heel, waving the BBQ chips bag. “Look. I don’t know. Maybe? Sometimes I think we’re flirting and other times I think she thinks I’m her new brother.” 

Barry snorted, affronted. “She does  _ not  _ think of you as a brother.” 

“How do you know?” Cisco let Barry pull him into the hot food line, folding his arms as Barry squinted at the day’s menu. “She’s brought me  _ shopping _ before.”

“You  _ like _ shopping.”

“So??”

“Uhh...I’m not supposed to be telling you this but…” 

“But?” Cisco tapped his foot impatiently, checking his phone. Caitlin had sent him about five texts with clock emojis. She got hangry when she was studying for biochem.   
  


“Look, Iris would kill me if I told you but before you two officially met Caitlin and Iris were calling you ‘Long Hair Hottie.’” 

Cisco nearly dropped his phone. “— _ What?” _

Barry ordered two sandwiches and paid for his food. Cisco stared wide-eyed at the selection of turkey subs beside him as he reanalyzed every single interaction he’s ever had with the girls ever. Caitlin  _ and _ Iris? Barry nudged his shoulder and snickered. “You’re holding the line.” 

  
Cisco stumbled forward, dazed. “Caitlin _ and  _ Iris?” 

“ _ And _ Iris,” Barry confirmed, lips pursed.

“So Caitlin likes me. Like, she’s attracted to me.” 

“Duh.” 

Cisco was blushing the way he thought only white people could. “Ohmigod.” 

They walked back up the stairs to head to the study floors. Barry grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t tell them I told you. I want to live.” 

“I won’t,” Cisco promised weakly. “I wouldn’t even know how to bring that up, frankly.” 

“Cool. Good. Tell Caitlin good luck for me.” 

Cisco saluted with the chips. Barry followed suit with the sandwiches. Linda Park walked out of the elevator in the lobby and halted abruptly, witnessing their weird exchange. Cisco and Barry looked at each other helplessly.   
  


Linda rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath.  _ “Dorks.” _

“Terrible chips, at your service.” Cisco plopped the cursed bag onto Caitlin’s table. She had monopolized the entire study space, spread out with laminated notes and highlighters. She dropped a flashcard and clutched the chips to her chest.  _ “Thank you.”  _

Cisco hopped up on the table, fiddling with the timer as she tore into the snack.

“What’s this for?” 

Caitlin licked the dust off her fingers, Cisco looked away. 

“There’s a hundred and fifty MCQs on the exam. I need to make sure I’m efficient with my test-taking so I’ve been timing myself with the practice exams.”

“Wow,” Cisco said. 

Caitlin glared at him good-naturedly. “Don’t act like you don’t go all out for your tests either. I need this A. I want to impress professor McGee.” 

  
Cisco looked at her softly. “You will. I know you will.” 

Caitlin smiled, the timid one that makes her look down at her lap when he compliments her. 

“Do you remember when we met here, a few months ago?” he wondered aloud a few minutes later. He was flipping through the questions she got wrong, ready to compile them into a new flashcard section. 

“Yeah. You were sleep-deprived and used my library bag. I never got it back.”    
  


Cisco’s jaw dropped open. “You  _ gave  _ it to me!” 

The look on her face made him realize she was teasing him. He relaxed his shoulders, scoffing at her sense of humour. “Oh, very funny Caitlin.” 

She leaned forward against the table, leaning her head against her arms as she looked up at him. Cisco wondered how she’d look in something delicate and pretty. Pink pastels and cardigans. Her hair, brown and gentle. When she batted her eyelashes like that at him he felt he was looking at a completely different girl. The one she’d confided she still was, inside. The one, he realized, that really likes him. 

“What about that day?” she asked quietly. 

Cisco looked out at the busy library, pointedly ignoring the librarian shooting him dirty looks for sitting on the furniture. They both knew she was too lazy to walk over to reprimand him herself. 

“I remember seeing you after Iris left the table. You were flattening your hair against your jacket like you wanted me to look at you. Did you?” 

Caitlin flushed, clearly taking that by surprise. “What if I did?” 

Cisco lowered Caitlin’s hand against the table. “Then I should’ve done this a long time ago,” he whispered and leaned down to kiss her. Caitlin’s hands went straight to the sides of his face, cupping his cheeks and hair, kissing back eagerly. 

“Huh,” Cisco muttered under his breath, eyes glazed over a few minutes later, as he wiped dark lipstick from his mouth. 

Caitlin glanced up from her notes with bright and pleased eyes. “What?”

“BBQ flavoured chips aren’t all that bad.”


End file.
